Perfunctory performance from a princess of pop

I'll be there: but Mariah Carey was there for less than an hour. Photo: Ashley Mar

Mariah CareyEtihad StadiumSaturday January 5

AFTER keeping the crowd waiting an hour in Sydney on Thursday, fans were relieved Mariah Carey was less than 15 minutes late to her Melbourne show, opening with a rousing rendition of Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme).

One thing was clear from the outset - the woman can still sing. And how, unleashing that five-octave vocal range with barely discernible effort. Uptempo, relatively recent singles Touch My Body and Shake It Off followed before she delivered the first ballad of the night, a pitch perfect My All from her favoured chaise lounge. It was an early highlight, and one that the big-haired, short-skirted songstress never matched during a 75-minute set.

Criminally, Carey herself was on stage for less than an hour, regularly exiting while back-up dancers failed to thrill during lengthy interludes, and a two-song guest spot was performed by Trey Lorenz, who also duetted with Carey on her popular cover of the Jackson Five's I'll Be There.

The sparse backing band, too, was merely perfunctory, and the stage - instruments perched atop lilac blocks - was more Rock Eisteddfod than multimillion-selling artist. But when Carey was front and centre her vocal chords more than compensated, particularly when showcasing that astonishing whistle register on songs such as Emotions.

It was a shame then that she chose to waste the precious little of her performing time with frequent, odd exchanges with the crowd - she replaced the spoonful of Vegemite she consumed at the Sydney gig with a sip of VB here - and that less than half her set consisted of what could have been defined as hits.

While Melbourne was granted an extra song that Sydney and the Gold Coast missed out on, Fly Like a Bird from 2006's The Emancipation of Mimi, seemed an indulgent choice in a set heavy on album tracks and the singer's personal favourites. The finale, mercifully, was redeeming - her biggest hit, Hero, was followed by another doozy, We Belong Together. But after waiting 14 years for Carey to return to our shores, fans may have left feeling short-changed.